Squonk wrote:
Stand up and Benefit were great Albums and Ian's flute playing although not brilliant but quite unique made for some interesting songs and albums.
IMO the flute started as a gimmick and became a trade mark. Anderson is one of those guys who is competent on several instruments but not outstanding on any. I wish my best was as good as his "competent".
My favourite Tull albums are the Folk tinged "Songs from the Wood" and "Heavy Horses", excellent songs about moths, mice etc.
Interesting enough Tull were linked with Steeleye Span, guesting on Maddy Priors late 70's solo album. Cant think of the name right now
Tull started off as a blues band, then started going in a heavier, more prog direction without quite going all the way. There's a progression from Benefit through to Aqualung as they shed their blues and got more straightforward and FM radio friendly (IMO Anderson read the market brilliantly). Then they reinvented themselves as a sort of "English" hard rock band, though I think that was after Anderson had spent a lot of time listening to Fairport Convention records. If you want to hear the seeds of the sort of cod medieval heaviness that Tull would later embrace then listen to Fairport's
Liege and Lief album - which was recorded in 1969.
There's been quite a lot of cross-pollination between latter day Fairport and latter day Tull. Dave Pegg, Gerry Conway, Dave Mattacks, Maartin Allcock, Ric Sanders.... In fact for a while Pegg was playing bass in both bands. On one Tull tour Fairport were the support act and Pegg would open and then come back on with the headliners.
